The Mark of Athena
by paleskies
Summary: Seven Half Bloods shall answer the call. But what happens when they meet? It's hard to get along with someone when you feel like they've stolen your family. Will Jason and Percy manage to put aside their differences and lead this quest? Six down-one to go
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All rights © Rick Riordan. The plot and ideas is the only thing that belongs to me. **

**Seven Half Bloods shall answer the call. But what happens when they meet? It's hard to get along with someone when you feel like they've stolen your family. Will Jason and Percy manage to put aside their differences and lead this quest? Six down, one to go…**

_AN: Okay so, since I have no idea who should be telling the story, I'm just going to keep changing it up. No order, I can change it whenever but I will write the POV's name on the top of the chapter._

**Jason Grace**

As the ship descends the earth seems to be coming up on its own. Jason tried not to look at it that way, because if he did he would start thinking of Gaea, and there was no way he wanted that old sleepy hag to ruin this moment for him.

He knew that just moments from now he would see his family… his first family.

And he knew that no matter how much time he had lost with them, Leo and Piper had made up for it.

_Piper_. A pang of guilt seemed to make Jason's heart weigh ten pounds more than it should.

But why _did_ he feel guilty? He and Piper hadn't been dating.

But that just made him feel worse. In Piper's old memory created from the mist, he and Piper were _supposed_ be together… and Jason wouldn't really mind… But he knew seeing Reyna could change all that.

Before he knew it, the war ship had touched down.

A feeling of uneasiness filled is stomach. How was he going to explain himself to the Romans? Showing up after six months? He was their Praetor. He was supposed to have been there to protect him during the battle against Polybotes.

He felt like he had failed them. He felt like he had lost his sense of duty. And suddenly he hated it. Not the fact that he couldn't protect them, but the fact that he felt guilty about it.

How could he have been there? Hera or Juno- whatever- had made sure he was away from his camp. This was _her_ fault, yet Jason felt guilty. It was ridiculous.

Jason hadn't realized he was shaking until Piper put her soft hand on his shoulder.

"Jason… It'll be all right. If they truly are your family, they'll forgive you and take you back in." She said her soothing tone. It was so persuading and dreamy, just like her ever-changing eyes and everything about her. Her chocolate brown hair with cute thin braids, her perfectly shaped lips and all her other amazing features seemed to be spirits of her will. They all seemed to be persuading him to let his guard down… that it would be all right …

Jason snapped out of it and looked at Piper in shock.

"Did you just…?" Jason asked, now shaken from the inside as well. It took a moment for Piper to realize what he was asking.

"What, No! Jason I would never…" She looked appalled by the accusation, and for a second Jason actually thought, _she's a good actress_. Then he suddenly felt tremendously guilty.

Great.

Leo walked in, perfect timing as usual. His curly back hair was ruffled up from being out in the wind. Jason's must have been messed up too, since he had spent most of his time outside on the sky deck. It had made him feel better, until they got closer to their destination. Jason didn't want to see Camp Jupiter. He felt like he would throw up with the queasiness he felt.

Leo's expression was solemn, which was new. That meant something bad.

"You'd better get out quick." He said anxiously.

The look in Leo's eyes told Jason there was no time to decide. They needed him right now, for whatever reason. It may be small, but Jason was willing to do anything right now, to lift the fifty pounds of guilt off his shoulders.

Jason stood up.

"Let me introduce you two to the Romans."

_AN: its short, but it's the prologue._


	2. Chapter 2

**Percy Jackson**

Percy couldn't believe his eyes. It _was_ the same dragon head. The same dragon head that reminded him of friends that he just couldn't think of without feeling the whole world drop on top of him.

His arms slipped of Hazel and Frank's shoulders as he walked toward the ship. Roman demigods assembled themselves in a sort of semi circle formation as the ship landed in the center of the _Via Praetoria._

They filled in all the way to the back of the crossroads, and some even had to back up against the _Principia._

They were all armed and ready to fight the moment he or Reyna gave the word.

The only thing in the world that worried him right now was that Annabeth would be upset with him, not showing his face for six whole months… that and Octavian, who could screw things up at any second if he felt like it.

But Percy had to believe that Octavian was smarter than that, which wasn't as hard as it should have been.

The ship landed and there was silence despite the fact that the whole area was flooded with people.

Percy saw Tyson among them, who was armed, but had not braced his weapon. He was looking around, confused as to why everyone was getting ready to attack. Percy was worried he would do something to turn the Romans against him.

The silence stretched on as no one came out of the indoor decks.

Percy was worried the Romans would get confused, panic and attack.

But then he remembered that they were Romans, and with Reyna watching them, that was quite unlikely.

Suddenly they could hear footsteps coming from the other side of the ship.

Yup, that's how quiet it was. And now it was quieter, and the tension rose and the Romans braced themselves for the worst.

The whole body of demigods gasped as one when a blonde kid - around Percy's age – stepped out onto the sky deck and leaned against the bulwark.

Percy didn't know who he was, but he did recognize him from his dream, and he had a pretty good idea.

What shocked Percy was that he was wearing a Camp Half Blood orange T-shirt.

He should have felt relieved that this guy, if he was Jason Grace, had made peace with his Greek family, but he didn't. He felt something else.

It took Percy a moment to realize that it was jealousy. He shook the feeling off.

"Romans," The boy said in a loud and steady voice, "We come in peace. Do _not_ attack. I am your Praetor and you will obey my orders."

_Shit_ Percy thought.

This guy thought he was still praetor. If he knew that Percy had practically stolen his job, what would that do? Percy had a feeling that the two of them would have to lead this group of seven. How were they to do that if Percy was already stealing his job and feeling jealous of him at the same time? That wasn't the best foot to get off on.

He heard a commotion somewhere nearer to the boat. He could see Octavian and a few of his loyal demigods (more like slave demigods) shouting in disapproval, pointing at Percy.

Jason looked confused. He turned toward Percy, studied the cloak and looked away.

If he felt anything about losing his position as praetor, he didn't let on.

"You must cooperate with me," He continued, just as demandingly, "If you want to survive what's coming. You must cooperate with _us_." He gestured behind him, and Percy hadn't realized that there was a whole group of demigods on the ship too. Not as many as on the ground, but still quite a few.

They stood behind him, and you could tell that they were there for him. They respected him and were loyal to him.

Percy felt like he had just lost his family to this guy.

And the most wounding thing was that Annabeth was among them.

He suddenly began to worry that he had lost her too… _really_ lost her.

Then he felt ashamed. Annabeth wasn't like that. She would never do that to him.

He should be _happy,_ like he had been a few minutes ago, that Annabeth was here.

She didn't seem to notice him, but she was looking around and squinting. Percy was anxious to get her to notice him

He want to scream out _I'm over here! _He wasted to run to her and sweep her off her feet. He just wanted to be with her, talk to her, hold her, kiss her…

Any dread he had been feeling for Jason and the task ahead of them vanished as the longing for his girlfriend – his best friend- took over.

A guy with curly black hair and wild eyes – Leo, Percy remembered – stepped forward. He looked even more restless in person then in the message.

"If you ever had any respect for Jason, you'll lower your weapons and hear us out." He sounded like he was challenging them to shoot, which proved that he knew nothing about the Romans. It wasn't the smartest thing to do.

But slowly, members of the fifth cohort, friends who had listened to Percy, started to lower their weapons.

Percy knew it was his to turn to speak.

"Lower your weapons!" He barked. He had had no idea he could sound so strong, but then again Percy usually did underestimate himself.

He glanced at the ship, and as he had predicted, Annabeth had noticed him. She looked utterly stunned.

Percy looked back to the Romans.

"It is _not_ a scheme. They are here to create peace. If, in fact, it _is _a scheme against us, I will…" His voice wavered as he glanced at the boat, but he regained it quickly enough to make it unnoticeable, "I will stand by my word to fight with you."

Demigods from other cohorts started to lower their weapons as well. Octavian obviously didn't like this.

"That is, before I kill you!" He shouted.

There were some gasps from the people on the ship, and it wasn't only because of the death threat. Percy had just declared that he would fight them if he had to.

He couldn't look up. He couldn't see who else was there. He couldn't face which one of his friends had heard what he had just said.

"Enough!" Reyna shouted. Her voice was the firmest from everyone who had spoken so far, "There will be no more of this! Get off that ship and speak! Explain yourself!"

Percy realized that Reyna was speaking directly to Jason. She made it seem like she was talking to everyone, but Percy understood. And by the look on his face, so did Jason.

Reyna had practically just said _Where the fuck have you been for six months?_

Jason stepped away from the bulwark and descended the bronze steps that had unfolded themselves when the ship had landed.

Leo and the other girl from his dream followed him with full confidence that this was the right thing to do.

They probably didn't realize that the Romans would have the better advantage if they stepped off the boat.

They didn't, but Percy knew Jason did. Why he was playing out what Reyna had asked him to do, Percy wasn't sure.

He probably felt the same as Percy. He probably felt like he had lost his family to Percy and now he would do anything to prove that he deserved them back.

Slowly, other demigods got off the boat and Percy finally took a good look at who was among them.

Percy wasn't sure what to feel. He felt hurt, but at the same time so relieved and happy. He would be indecisive until he actually had a good talk with his old friends, he realized.

Jason set his foot on the ground and suddenly, the whole world seemed to be shaking. Percy saw the face of a sleeping woman somewhere far in the mountains. It was so barely visible; it could have been his imagination.

But Percy knew it was real.

And then the face was gone, and the shaking stopped.

There was a bright flash at the point between the Greeks and the Romans, and then a six foot tall woman was standing there, in chocolate brown robes that matched her hair.

But she wasn't a woman, she was Goddess.

"Minerva…" Hazel whispered from somewhere behind Percy.

But Percy knew better. He took a good look at the grey eyes that were so like Annabeth's. They were boring into him.

"_Athena_." Percy corrected.

_AN: I'll post the next one ASAP _


	3. Chapter 3

**Reyna**

Reyna studied the Goddess. She wasn't roman that was for sure. She wore a Greek dress, and her war helmet wasn't imperial gold. It was celestial bronze.

"_Athena_," Reyna heard Percy say.

Suddenly, all the Greeks were kneeling. All of them except Percy.

That was expected.

But Reyna knew better than to tick this Goddess off.

"Romans, Kneel!" she ordered, going down on her knees herself.

She saw Percy kneel from the corner of her eye as well. She figured it was because he knew what was best for him. She wouldn't want anything to happen to him…

"Romans," The Goddess boomed, "Greeks! I come baring a message from Olympus. '_The Mark is burning'_."

She gave Percy a look that made it clear she expected him to understand. But if Percy got anything, he was pretty good at hiding it. He looked like he's just been hit in the head with a club.

Then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, Athena was gone.

Reyna glanced at Percy, who was avoiding her eye. Hazel whispered something to him and he nodded.

That made Reyna as curious as ever. She knew that Hazel, Percy and Frank had figured out more on their quest then they had let on.

Reyna was also a little jealous. How had Hazel and Frank ended up the ones to be a part of this Great Prophecy? Did Reyna even have anything to do with it? As much as she hated it, she knew she didn't like it because it hurt her ego.

Was she really as important as she always thought she was? Meeting Percy Jackson and had changed that thought a little.

He was so easy going and funny. He seemed to have lived life to the fullest at only sixteen. Reyna wasn't like that. She was so much more reserved.

She had all these responsibilities and she had never got the chance to be a normal teenager like Percy. She never got to do what _should_ have been important. That was being a kid.

She realized what she was jealous of was the friendship the three of them had. She had lost that kind of friendship with anyone when she came to camp Jupiter.

That was until she met Jason.

"We know about the Prophecy of Seven," Jason said, regaining himself from the shock of the current event that had taken place. Everyone else was still shocked and a hum of talking had broken out. Jason was trying to get their attention.

"We also know about Gaea. We are here to help." Said a blonde girl who had walked down to stand right beside Jason. She had curly hair and the exact same grey eyes as the Goddess. Reyna figured she was a daughter of Athena. She had a sort of power in her voice and storm in her eyes that everyone, even Octavian, stopped the commotion listen in respect.

"Hera – or Juno as you call her – claims that we must work together to get the Gods to fight with us. Only then will we be able to defeat Gaea. You all have probably heard this already, but I'm going to tell you again.

"Juno stated that to bring the Greeks," She gestured behind her, "and Romans," She gestured in front, "together, a change in leaders was necessary. This explains the past six months for us all. Jason Grace arrived at Camp Half Bloods, about six months ago when Percy Jackson disappeared. He remembered nothing of his past. Not even his name. The Gods of Olympus had completely cut off contact in that time period. Their contact is still limited. Hera had been taken prisoner. Jason, Piper and Leo were taken to camp by me and given a quest to go free her. They succeeded. When the quest was over, we assumed – correctly - , that Percy Jackson had been taken to Camp Jupiter. Jason's memory has come back to him now, and we are here to create peace. Jason, Piper, Leo and Percy are a part of the seven, this much we are sure of." The girl concluded and stepped back, allowing Jason to speak. But he was staring at her in awe, just as everyone else.

The power of her voice was so intense, even Reyna felt a strong respect for her just by listening to it.

"Now that you know our story, all we ask for is yours. We can work this out, figure out who will accompany us on the _Argo II_ and travel to Greece." Jason spoke.

There were many gasps in the crowd.

"Rome," Percy spoke up, "Before Greece we must travel to Rome."

All eyes turned on Percy.

Percy looked at Reyna and an Understanding passed between them.

Reyna turned around and bellowed "Retreat back to the Barracks, or wherever may be our current occupation! You have no business left here!" She ordered.

Slowly, in files mind you, the demigods retreated. They didn't look happy about it, but there was no refusing Reyna once she had spoken.

Percy went straight up to where Jason was standing, about three feet away from him. Reyna watched intently, not wanting to miss a single detail.

Percy spoke in a superior manner that Reyna found quite attractive.

"Bring not more than _five_ demigods of your choice into the _Principia_. Understood? _Five _demigods you trust enough to know the details of this quest."

"Understood," Jason assured him.

Reyna found the whole scene to be mocking her. It was obvious the two were not about to get along. There was Jason, her long time companion and best friend. And then there was Percy, the boy who just showed up and earned her respect and fancy.

She felt like she would have to choose between the two of them. And that would leave them unsettled with each other. That wouldn't be good for the quest.

Could she be that person? The one who was the distraction? The one who would divert the Hero's path? That was not her intention.

Percy made his way to the _Principia_. The only Romans left were Hazel and Frank, who followed him there. And then there was Octavian. He came, trying to get in front of Percy but Reyna stopped him.

"What are you doing? What if something goes wrong? You _need_ me in there!" He protested.

"Percy?" Reyna asked for his approval.

"I think it would be best that Octavian stayed out of attacking distance." Percy said.

"I won't hurt anyone!" Octavian assured Reyna, not even bothering to acknowledge Percy.

"It's not them I'm worried about." Percy said, and walked on. Reyna had to hold back a smile. Percy had a way of putting her in that situation.

"Sorry Octavian, but you can't go against Both Praetors." Reyna said, and she followed Percy as Jason picked out his five demigods, excluding himself.

Suddenly, Reyna felt the same way she had when Percy had come back with Eagle in his hand. She knew something good was coming for her, despite the horrible quest ahead of them. And she knew it was going to be because of Percy.

_AN: Yeah, check on Camp Half Blood Wiki. Reyna does have a thing for Percy. Don't worry though, it'll be Percabeth in the end game, but I did promise not-so-intense drama right? ;) And then there is "Jiper" or "Jasper" or whatever to worry about…_


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Yup, yup… the chapter all you Percabeth shippers have been waiting for! And I please note that on you may find this exact same story on the Heroes of Olympus spot by 'xharrypotterx'. That's me. Just need to clear that out. Only some changes are that on , The grammar is more corrected than on Fanpop, since I post it there first and then here. It gives me more time to proof read. _

**Annabeth Chase**

Annabeth couldn't get over the shock of what Percy had said. _I will stand by my word to fight with you._

Would he really have fought them? Would he really have fought his own family… or even her?

Annabeth wasn't sure, but at that moment she knew things had changed. She didn't know whether it was for better or for worse, but they had changed.

And she still wasn't sure about how she felt when her mother had shown up… and that look she had given Percy.

Annabeth had thought she had it all figured out, but there were some things even _she _couldn't understand. But she would. Whatever it took, she would _not_ be away from the action, she would be at the center of the battle field and the loop. No more being kept in the dark for her.

Annabeth didn't even have to ask Jason, or seek his approval as she went to stand next to Leo and Piper, indicating that she was going to be in the five. Jason didn't protest.

"Okay. Two more…" He waited a minuet then said, "Thalia, Rachel come with me."

Thalia wasn't a surprise, but no one had been expecting Rachel.

She looked at Jason, eyes wide with bewilderment.

"M-me? " She stammered.

Wow. Catching Rachel Dare off guard was a pretty hard job. Jason had definitely pulled a stunt there.

"Yes. You're the oracle, hence you're important. You should be in the loop too."

Annabeth had to admire his way of thinking. Maybe he was really was fit to be a leader. More fit than Annabeth had realized.

Jason made his way down the crossroads and into the _Principia_.

Annabeth, Leo, Piper, Thalia and Rachel followed.

"Can you believe what he said?" Thalia asked. She had taken permission from Artemis to take a vacation from her lieutenant duties especially to accompany her brother on this quest. She was pretty brave and bold, walking into a quest like this without thinking twice. But then again, that was Thalia.

Jason stepped into the marble floored room, decorated with banners and medals.

Annabeth saw how organized everything was with the Romans. They were so disciplined and paid respect to all important demigods. It was a proper army. No "everyone is equal." Everyone may be equal, in ways of fairness, but there was always a prey and a predator. The Romans seemed to understand that, and honor their most powerful predators, just as Annabeth would.

She suddenly felt a new found respect for the Romans.

Percy and Reyna were seated in chairs at the back wall, wearing matching purple cloaks and togas.

Annabeth felt proud, seeing Percy like that. He deserved a position like that. She was glad that the Romans had realized his potential.

A few ghost, shimmering with purple light, rushed into the room carrying coffee bean colored chairs. They set down eight in total around the table where Percy and Reyna sat.

The desk was cluttered with papers and jelly beans. Jason touched the desk with his fingers, and it was evident that he would miss being praetor. Annabeth had a suspicion that he would miss his companion more…

"Romans and Greeks alike," Reyna started, as they all took their seats, "we are here now because we have a difficult task ahead of us. And to accomplish anything, we must unite. We must train together, and pick our heroes carefully to accompany the seven on this journey to defeat Gaea. Any objections?"

No one stood. She was right.

"I believe we know who the seven are," This time it was Percy who spoke. He sounded graver then Annabeth had ever heard him. She knew it was because that was how he needed to act, to sound in command.

"You claimed that Leo and Piper were a part of the seven. I think it's obvious the Jason and I are too. And so are Hazel and Frank." He gestured toward the chubby-faced boy and African girl.

They looked a little unsure, but also honored. She realized their reactions were quite the same. They must have been pretty tight friends to have been influenced by each other like that.

"But that's only six…' Leo said in a bemused manner.

"Wow Leo! You _counted_! You went even higher than your high score, which was like, _three_!" Piper teased.

Reyna obviously didn't like it when people goofed off during meetings because the look she gave them was deadly. Even Piper, who never really listened to anybody, shut up.

"I know," Percy continued at Reyna's approval, "We have one demigod left… and we don't have a clue who that could be…"

"Well, if it's one thing I've learned; the fates never fail." Said the one named Hazel.

"Hazel's right," Jason agreed, "If we're going to find this demigod, we will. Maybe he or she will come to us; maybe a god or goddess will lead us in their direction. Whatever the case may be, we have to focus on the _now_ right now."

"One more thing…" Piper added slowly, addressing Percy, 'You said we had to go to Rome and then Greece," She looked at Jason, "Are we really going to?" She asked him.

"I don't know," Jason said honestly, "But I do know that we should listen to him," he indicated Percy, "and do what he asks us too. If Roma is our first stop, to Roma we shall go."

Piper nodded and slowly turned her eyes to the floor, lost in thought.

Annabeth spoke up, "So now that we've settled that, when do we leave? We already have all our best campers from Camp Half Blood, and now we have to-"

"Is Clarisse aboard the _Argo II_?" Percy interrupted. It wasn't a rude one. He had been lost in thought and spoken automatically. Annabeth didn't mind.

"Yes, yes she is." She assured him.

He nodded his approval, "Good. Continue…" He avoided her eye the whole time.

"As I was saying… now all we have to do is gather the best roman demigods and we're good."

"We leave as soon as possible," Jason said, answering her earlier question.

"Alright then, it is settled. We make our team and we will be off." Reyna said. And then her expression turned sad as a realization dawned on her face.

"I will not be able to accompany you." She said glumly.

"What? Why?" The one named Frank demanded, "Um, I mean… why?" he said it in a less harsh manner, as if he were frightened by Reyna.

"Because she can't, as a praetor, leave the camp unattended." Hazel said, as the realization flashed in her eyes too.

"But what about Percy?" Frank asked.

"He is an important part of this prophecy," Reyna protested, "and he should be the one to go. I should be the one to stay… again…" her last word was barely audible.

Annabeth chanced a glance at Jason, and her suspicions confirmed. He looked guilty and hurt by her words.

"It is not necessary, sister…"came a voice from the back of the room. Everyone turned their eyes onto a woman who looked a lot like Reyna, wearing a black leather jump suit and a gold belt with the labyrinth pattern on it.

She looked so familiar, but Annabeth couldn't quite put her finger on where she had seen her.

"Hylla, no…" Reyna protested.

"Why not? It is the least I can do for my little sister. You go on with them, where you belong. I'll look after your camp. I won't let you down, I promise. The Amazons like it here anyway…" She smirked, though Annabeth didn't get what was so funny.

"Perfect. It's settled then." Percy stated.

"No, Percy it's not -" Reyna tried to protest, but Percy put his finger on his lips.

"Ssh. It's settled." He told her. His expression said _you know you want this so why turn it down?_

Reyna _actually_ stayed quiet after Percy removed his finger. Reyna hadn't struck Annabeth as the type to take orders. She gave orders.

But looks like that was another thing Annabeth hadn't really noticed about Percy till today. He was influential in many ways.

Annabeth noticed that Thalia and Rachel hadn't said a word. That was shocking, coming from Thalia but not from Rachel. She was the observing type. Thalia was the rebelling type. But Annabeth figured Thalia agreed with everything they were saying, hence no reason to rebel.

"Well then, I guess we can sleep in for the night?' Jason asked Reyna, as if he were scared she would make him sleep in the grass.

"Hazel, show the girls to the to the guest room. Frank, you take Leo." Reyna told them.

"Yes, Reyna," They said in union.

"What about the rest on the ship?" Jason asked.

"Tell one of the ghosts to escort each demigod to a spare bed in the barracks." Reyna told Hazel.

"Yes, Reyna," She said, getting up.

"What about me?" Jason asked the next one like a child would ask his mother why his brother got all the candy and he didn't.

"You sleep in your room." Reyna told him, like it should have been obvious. Under different circumstances it might have been, but even Annabeth knew that "his room" would mean the Praetor's. He wasn't one of those anymore.

Jason looked at Percy skeptically.

"It's all yours." Percy assured him. Jason nodded, still confused.

"Come on," Hazel told the girls, including Annabeth.

Frank took Leo, and Jason headed out on his own.

"Aren't you coming?" Piper asked Annabeth when she didn't move.

"Just give me a minute. I'll find my way." Annabeth assured her. Piper shrugged and went on with the rest.

Soon, only Percy, Annabeth and Reyna stood in the room. Percy was looking down under the table.

Reyna, who Annabeth was pretty sure had figured out what was between her and Percy, muttered something about leaving important files in the senate house.

She rushed out the door, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone.

Percy looked up and for a minute she was just lost in those gorgeous green eyes.

Percy stood up and came to stand in front of Annabeth. She just looked at him. She wanted to tell him so much. She wanted to tell him how she's missed him, how she'd spent every second worried, how she'd went around searching for him…

"Hey," was all that Annabeth managed to breathe out.

Percy smiled at that, "Hi." He replied.

And then all worry of not being able to tell him everything she felt vanished because he was kissing her. And she didn't need to say anything.

She knew he had missed her. She knew had been longing for her just as much as she had for him.

And she knew that he would never let anything separate them again. These were the rare times when Annabeth let herself go, exposed herself completely. These were the rare times when Annabeth felt inferior to someone. And in a weird way, she loved that.

Between kisses, Percy breathed, "I never forgot…"

_AN: Hope you liked it… no more swearing now I promise. Just words like 'crap' or occasionally 'arse' because I use it as a casual swear not an insult. But no more swearing :P Please comment, otherwise reading it would mean nothing…_


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Ha-ha! It's time for the awesomeness to start! Presenting, the next chapter…. Drum roll please…:_

**Leo Valdez**

"Well if it isn't great aunt Piper coming to check if her little Leo is alright!" Leo said in baby voice as he saw Piper creep into his guest room. It was occupied by pretty much just him so he quite liked it. But Piper wasn't supposed to be here. She belonged in the girls' guest room. Then again, Piper had a way of winding up wherever she least belonged…

Piper looked at him like he was insane and said, "Great aunt Piper my-" Leo cut her off.

"Alright alright, no need to get your tongue all fiery…" Leo chuckled at his little joke. Piper was still looking at him like he was insane… not that he expected there to be any way in Tartarus that that would change.

"So why are you here?" he asked casually, flinging himself onto his bed, Piper hovering around the corner.

"I think there's something else going on that these praetors won't tell us about." Piper began.

"So why aren't you going to Jason?" Leo asked, sincerely. He was never really Piper's friend; it felt like she just knew him through Jason. And that really sucked since he and Piper had been _real_ friends while Jason had been a made-up memory from the mist. But he'd never dare to mention that.

If Leo had thought Piper's expression turned cold at the mention of Jason's name, her voice was _ice_.

"Jason doesn't need to know. He probably already does and won't tell us. He would obviously do anything for that girl…" Her voice trailed off.

"Anyway," She said in such a perky manner - as opposed to her usual 'life-totally-sucks' tone– that it made Leo jump, "I came to _you_ because I _know_ you'll help me."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" If she had said it a few months ago, when they actually might have been friends, Leo would have taken it good naturedly. But now he was just irritated. Piper wasn't joking around. She thought of Leo like her own personal robot to do all the dirty work for her.

"Because if you don't, I'll tell all the hot girls about you're-"

"All right, Fine! I'll do what you need me to…" Leo said resentfully. He should never have told Piper about that.

She smiled brightly and hugged him, and then, without a word, slipped out of the room.

Leo lay there for a long time. Something was definitely off about Piper.

For one thing, the past three months she had been ten times meaner to Leo, and a thousand times more flirtatious with Jason.

The Piper Leo knew wasn't mean, she was just a teaser. And she was by no means a flirt.

Piper was actually really cool sometimes. Okay, most of the time.

She was a good friend for a guy, since she wasn't all weird and girly. But the past few months she hadn't been acting like herself at all. She'd been more like a whole different person, and only Leo had seemed to notice.

She was acting like someone in specific but Leo couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He had almost mentioned the problem to Jason once, but had thought better of it. He would obviously defend her.

So for the time being, Leo had decided to keep this Piper-drama to himself.

_Wow. _Leo thought, _If I've got Piper-drama in my life, it must be pretty messed up…_

He pushed all his thoughts to one side – which made his head feel uncomfortably unbalanced – and he tried hard to fall asleep.

Tried and failed, that is.

Finally, he got fed up. He bushed himself off the bed and slipped out of the room quietly. It was nighttime now, and Leo couldn't believe they had arrived only this morning. Time went by fast.

Leo went around a corner and into an alleyway between two cohort buildings, making sure he wasn't spotted.

He sat down and said to himself, "Great, now what?"

Leo was like that a lot. He was always restless – more ADHD then the rest of the kids – and he just went around needing to _do_ something, even without thinking.

So, his fingers still itching to do something, he opened his palm and summoned the heat. His palm burned for a second and a flame flickered in his hand. He started playing around with it. Making shapes with his hands against the alleyway's walls.

A bunny, a dog, a bird…

"Hey, who's there?" He heard a voice call right around the corner.

Leo froze, his flame still flickering.

In the light, he saw the face of the Chinese-toddler-man hybrid looking down at him. Frank, Leo remembered.

"You're the guy-" Frank started, but he saw the fire and stumbled backwards, almost tripped over his own big feet.

"What? Are you scared of fire?" Leo asked. This one was new.

"N-no…" He said, checking his coat pocket, which turned out to be empty. This, for some unknown reason, made him relax.

"How can you do that?" Frank asked.

"It's a special ability. I'm a son of Hephaestus…" Leo's voice trailed off. He realized that this guy was also a part of the seven. They would have to work together, like comrades, very soon. He'd have to get to know him, Percy Jackson and the one named Hazel. And the unknown forth player in the board game of Life – Demigods. Leo figured it was kind of like the SpongeBob version only they weren't underwater, no one lived in a pineapple, and no one was a sponge… Never mind, it's nothing like the SpongeBob version, Leo thought.

"A son of Hephaestus, huh?" Frank asked, lost in thought. Then he snapped himself out of it.

"Anyway, you should get back to your room." He told Leo.

"You're here too," Leo pointed out.

"Well… yeah… but…" Frank through his hands up in surrender, "Okay, I won't tell anybody if you won't." Frank promised.

"Touché," Leo said, impressed. He didn't think a guy like that could be so sly.

Frank turned and walked away, back to whatever was wrong with his life, leaving Leo to dread what was going wrong in his.

But there was a new feeling of dread inside Leo now. He had gotten the feeling when Frank had jumped away from the fire.

Leo had the feeling he was going to cause an accident that even an eternity of apologies couldn't bring forgiveness for…

_AN: What'd you think? Review everyone. I know that in the beginning I was being a little mean about Piper, but you heard Leo, she's not acting like herself. I'm not trying to shed Piper in a bad light, this is just part of my story, you'll see. I did make up for it when Leo said all those nice things right?_


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: And here it is, FINALLY the next chappie!_

**Hazel Levesque **

Hazel woke up pretty early the next morning, and so she decided to be a good host and check up on the girls in the guest room.

She had to hold back a smile every time she saw the blonde girl, Annabeth. In fact she had to hold black a smile even when she saw Percy.

Let's hit the rewind button. Last night, when Hazel had been making her way back from the guest room, she had noticed that Annabeth still hadn't arrived. She got worried and went to check the _Principia_.

Annabeth hadn't been there. She thought maybe she might have gone back to the _Argo II_ to collect her things.

But as hazel had made her way there, she had heard noises coming from behind one of the bakery's at the crossroads. She could have continued on her way to the _Argo II_, as it was only a mere fifty feet away now, but curiosity, as it always does with ADHD, won over.

She walked into the alley and her mouth dropped open. She had had no idea Percy could kiss with so much… passion? Well whatever it was, Hazel had started laughing.

They seemed to notice her only then and they both seemed absolutely dumbfound.

Hazel, who couldn't stop laughing, was trying to decide which one of them was redder. She was pretty sure she was a little red too, but not as red as them that should have been visible in the dark.

She tried to catch her breath and said, "Oh my Gods, I'm _so _sorry guys… Okay, um, I'll leave now…"

She walked away giggling, leaving them shell-shocked. But their desire for one another must have won out just as her curiosity had because before she was even ten feet away, the 'making-out-noises' resumed.

Luckily, when Hazel walked into the guest room Annabeth and Thalia were both crashed out on a bed or couch.

The red head - Rachel she remembered – was the only one awake. But the first thing Hazel noticed was that Piper wasn't there.

"Where's Piper?" Hazel asked.

"She was gone when I woke up. Don't worry, she'll wander back. She's a little odd…" Rachel seemed to be speculating.

Hazel found that funny, coming from a girl who had colorful paint– and vocabulary – splattered all over her jeans.

Hazel somehow appreciated that though. She wasn't sure if the ruined jeans were an act of teenage rebellion or love for art – or both. But then Hazel noticed what Rachel was doing.

She was using a marker – Gods know where she got it from – and drawing a fine pattern onto a scrap piece of paper.

Hazel added that up with her Avril Laveign type attitude and came to the conclusion that the jeans were both the result of teenage rebellion and love for art.

Hazel liked anyone with a love for art.

"Where'd you get the marker and paper from?" Hazel asked, starting of a conversation.

"I always carry a marker around, just in case I get bored. I found the paper lying around here. I just like to keep my hands busy… best way is art…" she said, talking, but somehow giving the drawing her undivided attention.

"Same here," Hazel said, taking a seat next to Rachel on the table.

This caught Rachel's attention, "You're and artist? That's pretty cool. What's your style?"

"Well, I guess I'm a traditional artist, just like any other," Hazel said with a smile, "You?"

"I, don't actually have a style… I like to paint; I like to do creative projects and art fundraisers to earn money for the needy. I sometimes I'm a traditional artist to, but my main field is in arts and crafts and those sorts of activities…" As Rachel talked, Hazel had no doubt that this girl had passion for her work.

"That is really amazing!" Hazel said, and she meant it. It sounded like so much fun! She wondered if one day, if they survived this, she and Rachel could become better friends and start some sort of Art Group.

Rachel laughed, but then her expression turned a little sad.

"What is it?" Hazel asked.

"Nothing… it's just that… well ever since I got caught into all this demi-God crap, I haven't been able to get back to all these things that I love doing… Like art…"

Then Hazel remembered being told that Rachel Dare was a mortal, and now she was curious to know what had happened.

And Rachel ended up telling her.

When Rachel had covered every detail of how she had gotten dragged into this mess, it took Hazel a whole two minutes to close her gaping mouth.

Percy Jackson was the reason she was here? Because she had once _liked him_.

"Well it's not really because of Percy," Rachel reassured Hazel, "Really; it's because of me anyway. I was meant to be the oracle one way or another. Now I am. "

Another thing that had left Hazel's mouth hanging, Rachel was an oracle.

So the girls kept chatting and soon, at around nine a.m., Annabeth stirred.

Right when Hazel thought she would wake up, she flopped back onto the bed.

"That's odd… anyway," Rachel continued her story about one of her amazing art projects but now even Hazel couldn't concentrate.

It was stupid but, the way Annabeth had stirred, Hazel knew she was having some sort of a nightmare… in the morning, but still a nightmare.

Hazel had been right, because the next time Annabeth came around, five minutes later, she was screaming.

It was so painfully load, even Thalia, who had struck Hazel as "#1 Lazy" woke up.

Rachel, Thalia and Hazel gathered around trying to wake her up, but she just screamed and thrashed around like she was being tortured.

Then Piper walked through the door.

"What in Tartars is going on in here?" She yelled over Annabeth's screams.

"I'll go get help!" Rachel said, looking pale and worried. She rushed out the door and came back a few minutes later with some dude who Hazel had never seen before.

Annabeth wasn't screaming now but she was sweating and shivering really violently.

"Michel is a son of Apollo," Rachel explained, "He can help."

Michel got to work. He told Thalia to get a cloth of cold water to put on Annabeth's forehead as he tried to figure out what was wrong.

Soon, Piper left. Hazel didn't know why but something about it seemed suspicious. She followed her out.

"Hey!" Hazel called. She expected Piper to break into a run, but she stopped and turned.

"What?" She asked.

"You know something... about what's going on in there…" Hazel jabbed a thumb behind her, indicating the guest room.

"Isn't it obvious? Annabeth's having nightmares… about the Mark of Athena. She was whimpering it in her sleep just now and all night." Piper said with a haughty edge in her voice, as if Hazel were wasting her time.

Hazel realized that Annabeth had been murmuring something, but she hadn't caught what. And she clearly remembered that Ella had mentioned 'The Mark of Athena', but she didn't remember what the context had been.

Hazel must have had a bemused look on her face because Piper grew annoyed.

"Don't be so dim! What was the one thing your Praetors wouldn't talk about at the meeting? Athena! She showed up, remember? And what did she say…?" Piper rolled her hands in a gesture for Hazel to continue.

Hazel remembered clearly what she had said. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about it. She couldn't believe they all had let her…

But when Hazel said the next words, her throat burned and someone else's voice came out…

"_The Mark is Burning."_ Athena spoke through Hazel Levesque.

_AN: Comment !(fanpopers). Review! (Fan Fictioners). Thanks guys for all the awesome comments/reviews! You keep me writing! LOVE YA!_


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: Already here! :D And now, drum roll for the chappie I'm going to try and make interesting despite its lifeless story-teller (I know, I'm TRYING not to ne mean to her! Sorry! Also, I know the action is lacking but it's just the beginning! _

**Piper McLean**

Piper stared unblinkingly at Hazel.

"Did that just happen?" she asked, unable to get anything else out of her mouth.

"I…I believe it did…" Hazel muttered, hardly even audible. She was shaking. She was back to normal, but shaking.

Piper suddenly felt something she couldn't quite identify at first, something like the feeling of wanting to help. It was at the tip of her tongue, but a voice that sounded suspiciously like Drew's kept pulling her back.

Instead Piper said, "Well, pull yourself together Levesque and let's go find the others!"

Hazel looked at Piper coldly and she even looked a little hurt. Piper suddenly felt bad, but the voice in her head pushed away any trace of that.

"We have to warn them!" Piper explained, "About what happened with you! With Annabeth!"

"Yeah I got that! But that wasn't what you _were_ going to do was it?" Hazel asked.

She was mart. No, it wasn't why Piper had originally left the room. But she would never tell Hazel that.

"Of course it was! Now come on!" Piper ordered her, even more annoyed.

Hazel walked a few steps them stumbled, "I…I can't…" She breathed.

This was worse than Piper realized. She took hazel from the waist and helped her walk the rest of the way.

Piper hated today

…

Percy, the girl Piper remembered as Clarisse and Jason sat around a table in Reyna's room. Piper had expected only Reyna in her Praetor's house. Obviously there was a meeting - to which she had not been invited – going on.

Piper expected Jason to get up and start explaining why they were here without her, but everyone seemed too distracted.

When she and Hazel walked in, everyone looked quite taken aback. They all quickly regained an impassive expression.

"Where's Annabeth? She was supposed to be here, too." Jason asked.

Piper looked at the lot of them miserably

Then she noticed how Jason and Percy were trying their utmost to stop shaking. They were shivering just like Hazel. And Piper realized that the same thing had happened to them.

Percy took one good look at Hazel and said, "O-oh my G-gods… It's happened to you too…"

He was definitely trying not to look unstable, but he wasn't succeeding.

"Do you think it happened to Frank and Leo too?" Reyna asked.

"Maybe," Jason agreed, but he looked skeptical, "Though Piper s-seems okay-y…"

"Wait a minute," Piper held up her hands, "Are you two talking about being…"

"Possessed?" Percy offered.

"Yeah, _that, _by Athena?"

Jason nodded.

Piper was utterly confused now, but she didn't show it. The last thing she wanted was too look dumb in front of perfect little Reyna. If Jason thought she hadn't noticed they way they looked at each other, he was terribly mistaken.

"Wait, you didn't answer, where's Anna-" Percy started, but then Frank and Leo came bursting in, panting.

"W-we…" Frank, breathing heavily, grabbing on to a chair for support, "we saw what happened to H-hazel… same thing… with us… we came as fast… as fast as we could. We saw…saw Piper… coming…" Frank collapsed on the ground, at Leo's feet.

"Frank!" Hazel shrieked, but as soon as she let go of Piper she almost fell, if Leo hadn't caught her.

Everything was just suddenly too hectic and Piper's brain seemed to be freezing.

She didn't feel like she was in control of herself. Worse than that, she felt like someone else was…

"Annabeth," Percy Yelled as Leo pulled Hazel back to her feet and onto Reyna's bed, "Where is ANNABETH!"

"Percy, relax," Clarisse soothed, quite uncharacteristically, "I'm sure she's-"

"She's nowhere near fine," Piper interrupted. Percy looked up at her sharply, his green eyes piercing her with his radiant anger.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Percy demanded.

"You'd better go see for yourself…" Piper gestured to the door. Percy started to get up, shaking like an earthquake, but Clarisse pulled him back down, rather harshly.

"No way! You saw what happened to Fire-Boy and Frank just right now! I bet you they were possessed by Athena too," Clarisse looked at Leo, "Weren't you?" she asked.

"Y-yes…I think… I guess…?" Leo looked pretty shaken up. Piper couldn't get her bearings. She couldn't even concentrate on the fact that Leo and Jason needed her comfort, because her mind was clogging with every word that was spoken. It felt as if someone was _trying _to block it… from the _inside_ of her head.

She tried to focus on little things, like the room. It was small, and everyone was pretty cramped up. There was a bed pushed to one side and a chest of drawers pushed to the other. Small little antiques decorated the room, which was littered with Papers and blue prints. The table pretty much occupied the whole middle. Suddenly, the claustrophobia Piper was feeling didn't help.

"What happened to Annabeth?" Percy was almost begging now.

"She… I don't know… she was talking in her sleep… something about Athena as well… and she was screaming… but she wasn't waking up…" Piper managed that in little bits and pieces, but she couldn't get it all out at once. She gave up on clearing - or trying to at least - her mind and sat down on an empty chair near the table. She put her head in her hands and tried, instead, just not to think.

"Hold on… she was screaming? Like… in pain?" Percy asked.

Something about the way Percy had said it made Piper look up. And she saw it there. He really did care about Annabeth. And oddly, it made her feel warmer. A small bit of whatever – or whoever – was blocking her thoughts melted away thanks to this warmth.

Piper felt like she had just surfaced from the water, after almost drowning. She had only caught her breath for a second before going back in, but it was enough to keep her alive for the time.

"I have to see her…" Percy said, his eyes looking at no particular point.

"And you will… once we know _you_ are all right." Reyna said sternly.

Piper chanced a glance at Jason. He was still shaking and he had a dazed expression on, like he was lost in another – very critical – world.

She didn't know why, maybe because she had just cleared off a bit of confusion and felt renewed, but she took Jason's hand. Not even under the table, but in plain sight. She squeezed it, and was surprised when he squeezed back.

Piper caught sight of Reyna and saw something she did not expect to see in someone as hard-core as her.

Hurt.

She was frowning, looking at where their hands touched. The Drew-voice in Piper's head said she should feel smug, but her heart said she was supposedly feeling bad for Reyna, not wanting to have to hurt anyone like that.

And then Clarisse said something that stole away any bit of relief Piper had been feeling.

"So, didn't you all notice the pattern? Hazel, Percy, Fire-Boy, Jason, and baby-face all collapsed at the same time. All of them, part of the Prophecy… What's your excuse Lover girl?"

Clarisse was looking at her expectantly, and it took Piper a minute to realize what she meant. Unfortunately, when she did, realization seemed to dawn on everyone else. Jason lightly pulled his hand away.

"She's right Piper." He said.

Piper hadn't been 'possessed' by Athena, like the rest of them had. The truth? Piper knew it had something to do with how Drew was blocking her entire being. The lie? Piper wasn't sure why it hadn't happened to her. Maybe because Athena didn't get along well with Aphrodite and therefore didn't want anything to do with her daughter. The latter hardly made sense, but Piper went with it anyway.

When she explained her theory, she knew no one was convinced, but they went with it anyway, too.

Piper had started to feel weirder as she explained had her theory. It was different from how it had been the past few days… it was weirder. Her head was spinning, her eyes were burning, and her body was weakening. But she fought to sit straight and look in control.

She wasn't even aloud at least _ten_ minutes feeling normal. She had just started to feel better and now she felt like she was catching a fever.

"Well," Reyna declared, "at least we know who our seventh demi-God is…" Piper was suddenly glad she wasn't the only one who had come to that conclusion. Most of the people in the room had been too weak and distracted to have listened too much, but this caught everyone's attention. There was a sudden sharpness in the air as everyone listened in.

"We do?" asked Percy and Jason together.

"Of course," Said Piper weakly, her fatigue growing with any effort she made to do anything, even breathe, "It… It's Annabeth Chase."

And Piper passed out a just a second before Percy went haywire, unable to except that his girlfriend would topple down the same hill as the rest of them.

_AN: I know most of you don't think it should be Annabeth. Neither do I :p but this isn't the real book so I'm going to write what suits my story best right? I don't think it really is Annabeth tho :P atleast now you have a little idea of whts going on in Piper's head. I'm sorry, but I'll keep trying not to make her seem like a bi*ch, which she isn't. It all Drew's fault! :P _


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: This is the last chapter in which I don't really give a damn who's telling it. After this, all the main characters will have gotten a chance to tell the story. From here on out, I will stick to my word and just let any character tell the story. Any character who could tell the specific scene best that is :P _

**Frank Zhang**

Sunlight poured in through the cracks and holes in the old wooden walls of the horse stable. Frank had learned that when Percy was upset, horses made him feel better. He walked over to a corner, all the way at the end of the stable where there was nothing but hay. It was early morning so most of the horses were sleeping, none of them bothered Frank.

He walked over to the corner and saw Percy sitting on a stack of hay right in front of the wall.

Frank wouldn't exactly call it a wall, since it looked so unstable but, it had survived all these years and Frank decided not to underestimate it.

Percy looked up at him, not very surprised to see him there.

"I can't just let this happen, Frank…Not with her! She can't… she just can't…" Percy leaned against the week wooden wall and held his head, resting it on the wall.

Frank knew pretty much exactly what to say to that.

"Well, Percy, you think this is easy for me? Hazel's as much a part of this mess as you or me or even Annabeth! And she's only thirteen! But she's made her decision and I respect that, maybe you should do the same for Annabeth." Frank told him sternly.

"Except Annabeth hasn't made her decision yet," Percy argued, "And… and it's eating me up inside…" He said weekly.

True, Annabeth hadn't made up her mind. But it wasn't because she was indecisive. It was because she was lying in one of the beds at the Camp's hospital wing. She had been out since yesterday morning, when the interesting event of being possessed by Athena had taken place.

"Well, I don't know Annabeth at all yet, but I do know a daughter of Minerva, and if the two are anything alike – which I bet, they are – Annabeth would want this. She would take it. And if you know her so well, try and question it yourself." Frank knew his word had gotten Percy's attention.

He looked up, his green eyes were so full of pain Frank couldn't bear to look. And so he didn't.

"I know," Percy said, "But… I just can't bear the thought if… if it was her… And for Poseidon's sake, she's lying in a hospital wing right now!" Percy said in a voice that could have done pretty well in a soap opera. Except this wasn't a soap opera, and Percy wasn't acting, which made Frank feel even worse.

He knew exactly what Percy meant when he said _if it was her…_

He meant the sacrifice Hera was talking about. Suddenly Frank felt a pain even sharper than the one that shone in Percy's eyes.

Was Frank going to have to make Percy sacrifice Annabeth? He remembered what Mars had said about Percy needing his help to choose duty over love…

That wasn't exactly what Mars had said, but it might as well have been, if it was Annabeth Percy had to choose over.

_No_, Frank told himself. _It won't be Annabeth… It won't be a person…_

Frank was hardly convincing himself, so he pushed the whole thought aside all together.

"Percy… She'll be fine, all right? If she's _your_ girlfriend, I could bet my life, right now – an note that I don't even know her yet – that she is the strongest girl alive," Frank hesitated a moment before continuing, "Except maybe Hazel…"

Frank was glad to see that Percy actually cracked a smile at that. And then he was horrified when it turned into a smirk. Percy stood up and looked at Frank straight in the eyes.

"Tell the truth, it's a yes or no question. Did she kiss you?" Percy asked

"What…who?" Frank asked, flustered.

"Oh, you know who!" Percy punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"What…oh… um…" Frank wasn't sure what to say, but he _was_ sure he was brighter then Rudolf the reindeer's nose.

"Frank!" Percy pestered.

"Okay! Okay! Yes, she did!" Frank blurt out. Percy let out a laugh. It wasn't mocking, or mean, it was… relief?

"Finally!" Percy cried.

Frank went redder then it was possible to go red.

"You… you knew… how?" Frank asked, though he wished he hadn't with the answer he got.

"Are you kidding me? You two make it so obvious! Your always so_ into_ each other!" He laughed.

Frank couldn't help it, he chuckled a little too, and also out of happiness that Percy didn't look in so much pain anymore.

But then again, that was just for now. All the hurt Frank had seen was just buried under the surface. It couldn't evaporate as quickly as one chance to annoy him about Hazel.

Frank felt it his duty, as Percy's friend, to keep Percy this way for as long as possible.

He knew he was only delaying it until it surfaced again at night, but Percy needed that kind of time. He hadn't really enjoyed himself much since he came to Camp Jupiter. Frank made a sudden promise to himself that he would make up for six months of horrifying, life-threatening days with Percy.

"Come one Uncle Percy, I wanna show you something." Frank gestured out the stable.

Percy looked curiously at Frank but started to walk out. As he passed Frank he muttered, "Don't ever call me that again…"

Frank laughed and led Percy out and towards the most beautiful part of the Little Tiber.

…

Frank and Percy sat down by the bank with Hazel, who they had asked to join them on their way over. The three of them relaxed under a shady tree that looked quite out of place near the River where there were no other trees, but just grass.

It was as beautiful as Frank had remembered it. He had wandered over here on his first week at Camp, too busy thinking about his mother and how much he missed her to notice the beauty.

The second time around, he was just feeling out of place and came wandering back this way. He ended up admiring it quite a bit.

The tree had got him the most because it was the odd one out from the pretty red and purple poppies and green grass. The water was clear and reflected the sky beautifully.

The reason he liked the odd tree out was because it reminded him of himself that day. He may be standing out, like the tree, but Percy and Hazel both said the tree was the most beautiful thing in the area.

Percy sighed, "Gee, Frank, how did you know I'd enjoy being near the water?"

"Ha-ha, wild guess? I mean, I was going to go for some sort of helicopter tour of the whole area, so that we could see it from above but -" Frank was cut off.

"No, no, this is fine. I wasn't complaining." Percy promised.

Hazel and Frank laughed out loud.

She was sitting with her head on his shoulder – unaware that she was constantly sending adrenaline waves down his arm – and Percy just _couldn't_ control his smirk every time he saw us.

"You guys have no idea how much you mean to me… keeping my mind off the current situation – which involves Annabeth – that is a first. I doubt there are any other people alive who can do that." Percy said gratefully, Hazel smiled at his with sincere appreciation for his words. Frank, however, couldn't stop the next words from tumbling out.

"You mean keeping your mind off Annabeth or the current situation?" He joked. Hazel giggled, and Frank chuckled along.

Percy just smiled and rolled his eyes. Then his face grew grim. Uh, oh. They were losing him.

"Oh no, not today, boy!" Hazel snapped. Percy blinked and laughed, probably at Hazel's words.

"Sorry…" He smiled, "I'm happy, see. So, what else do you want to do?"

"Well, let's see… we climbed – or rather, made a failed attempt to climb – the tree, We played tag, we played hide and seek," She laughed out loud, probably realizing the words tumbling out of her mouth, "and Percy – remarkably without getting wet - went swimming –"

"So _that_," Percy interrupted, "You Frank could have some time to –"

"Shut up!" Frank through a small pebble at Percy. He dogged and was laughing his head off now.

"Well, Frank, I think we found out how to occupy _our_ time," Hazel said. She was hinting at something, but Frank had no idea what, "If Percy loved it so much…"

Hazel lifted herself up and kissed Frank.

Laughing stopped from where Percy was. It was replaced by:

"Eew! You guys! Not in front of me, come on!" Percy complained.

Frank couldn't kiss Hazel any longer. He wanted to all right, but he was laughing _way_ too hard. She didn't seem to mind since she was having a fit of her own.

Percy just looked at them, completely annoyed, but in that good-natured way only he could pull off.

…

Frank, Hazel and Percy walked into the Senate house, where they found a whole bunch of people among whom Frank found Reyna, Jason, Leo, Piper, Octavian and Annabeth.

_Annabeth?_

"Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed. She held out her arms warmly as he made his way over to embrace her.

So that was the good news. What was the bad news?

"All of us," Reyna announced, "In this room must leave for Rome on the _Argo II_… _Tonight_."

_AN: And I will now Also sart depicting Piper in a nicer light… sort of… because since she's sorta being possessed by Drew in a way, I can't do that yet. But anyway, the action hopefully starts from the next chappie! :D COMMENT! _


	9. Chapter 9

_OKAY. So I know a lot of you who comment on my forum, are also fellow writers (and amazing ones at that *coughs*nicecatch42*coughs*) so I'm going to let you in on something. Here is how I get most of my grammar correct – I write on word document first, with all the codes for italics and bold in fanpop style. This way, I can get my spelling AND grammar correct, since micro word does a grammar check. When I am done, I copy paste it onto the forum. Simple success! :D Feel free to use this method! And a shout out to Crazyfanatic! YAY! You started reading! My coolest fanpop buddy is reading, and this MoA is now whole! Btw, from now on I have a pattern. I will only be writing from Percy and Jason's POV and on OCCASIONALLY some other character's _

**Jason Grace**

Memories had come back in a flood as soon as Jason had stepped out of the _Argo_ that morning.  
>And with good memories, also came ones just as bad…like Octavian for instance.<br>Jason was in no way happy that that old crud was going to be accompanying them on this quest, but there was no loophole. 

He and Reyna had tried _everything._

But Octavian had it all planned out… 

"I would like to join you on the _Argo II_ to Rome and Greece," Octavian had demanded this morning, intruding Jason and Reyna's meeting in the Senate room. And yes it _was_ an actual meeting, on who would join them on the _Argo II_. 

"No way in Asphodel!" Jason had begun to argue, but Reyna put her hand up, indicating that he remain silent. 

"Let us see if his argument is valid." Reyna had said calmly. Jason had slumped back into his seat without a word, and he strongly regretted it now. 

"My argument, you ask? Oh, believe me it's valid. You see, I'm a senate. A senate has every right to accompany you on this quest -" 

Reyna cut him off, "None of the other senates are accompanying us."

"Oh yes!" Octavian had said dramatically as if he had practiced this over and over in the mirror, "But you see, none of the others _want_ to either! I, on the other hand, volunteer. Why should you deny me? I have proven myself worthy of many things, and we both know I can survive this."

Reyna had opened her mouth to speak but Octavian had started again, with all the more drama, "Oh but you know you need me dear Praetor! I am a descendant of Apollo, and with my powers, I would be such an advantage."

Jason had considered asking _What powers?_, when he realized that wouldn't be much of a valid argument, since there was no proof he _didn't_ possess the powers of Apollo, either.

Reyna had obviously not had any reasonable doubt in mind, as she had silently accepted defeat when she muttered, "Very well. Be back here at seven. We… we leave tonight."

… Indeed they do leave tonight.

Jason was scared out of his wits after what had happened to Annabeth. He had so wished she would be there with them, since she was probably the only one who could keep them alive on this quest, and then she went into some mild comma.

Thank the Gods for her sake, and everyone else's, that she was good and well now. The doctors said whatever was inside her had simply evaporated, not a trace left. She would have some mild headaches (occasionally – hopefully not –migraines), nothing serious, which would subside with time.

The way Percy had embraced her when he saw that she was alright… it made Jason feel jealous.

He was jealous because he didn't remember getting any warm embraces from Reyna. Did she care about him the way Annabeth did Percy? Or was it just a strict, professional relationship?

That's not how Jason remembered it. Yeah, he and Reyna hadn't been a couple, but they had definitely been more than colleagues.

Or had the fact that Jason had been gone six months changed all that? Was their whatever-you-wanna-call-it relationship really that fragile?

Jason pushed all Reyna-related thoughts out of his head. He needed to concentrate.

The Map of Italy and The World Map was spread out on the desk in front of him. He was in his room, waiting for Percy Jackson to show up. They had to find the safest way to Rome, or come up with _some _plan at least.

His room was just as he had left it, and believe it or not, it wasn't that much of a mess. All his clothes were in their correct drawers or cupboards. Only a few papers and chocolate wrappers littered the floor. It was nothing serious.

Jason _was_ a guy, but he was just cleaner than most of what Reyna used to call 'His Species'.  
>A smile spread across his face as he thought of the happy times with Reyna…<p>

_Snap out of it!_ He scolded himself. _No thinking of Reyna_, he remembered.

Percy walked in from the door that was right across from where the Jason was standing, at the table in the middle of the room.

Jason wondered why Percy hadn't taken his room by now. It was pretty much his now if he wanted it, since he was praetor.

_Yeah, why didn't he take my room like he did my people…?_ Jason shook the thought away. He couldn't afford to hate this guy just yet. He could be a serious asset… Heck he _was_ a serious asset.

"You figure anything out?" Percy asked, walking over to the table and taking a seat across from Jason.  
>He was blunt and to the point. No 'hi' or 'hello'. Jason was grateful for that.<p>

"Well, for one thing, a flight from San Francisco to Rome should take around eleven to twelve hours if not delayed. But that's on a plane. The _Argo II_ doesn't fly that fast. Leo didn't have enough time to fix it, so it can't withstand that much flight duration either. So we'll have to fly as far as we can, preferably towards the North Atlantic Ocean, so that we can –"

"-So that we can sail from there onwards," Percy completed for him – without permission might Jason add.

Jason noticed the uneasiness on Percy's face, and he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the sailing part.

Then his eyes suddenly lit up, "We could stop by New York then?"

Jason knew Percy had his family there, so this time he sincerely felt bad when he said, "I thought of that too, but it's too dangerous. There are too many monsters because of Camp Half Blood."

Percy seemed to understand the dangerousness more clearly now. He slumped a little, "Right…" He muttered.

"_But_, I think Washington DC would be the safest place to stop," Jason continued, "And after that I'm not sure what to do… we sail from there is all I know…" Jason told Percy. Jason was done with the flying bit, and the sailing bit was all Percy's.

"Well we can't exactly sail anywhere from Washington, but we _can_ bring the boat closer to our destination until it's ready to take flight again." Percy said tapping his chin with his fore-finger, thinking hard.

"But what _is_ our destination?" Jason asked.

Percy pulled the map toward him and studied it with concentration. A strained look was plastered across his face and Jason didn't blame him. He was dyslexic too.

"I say we sail to the middle of the Atlantic, here," Percy pointed at a spot on the map, "near the Azores Islands… Would we be able to take flight by then?" Percy looked up and asked Jason.

"I'd think so… But I'll have to ask Leo, hold on." Jason slipped a phone out of his pocket. He wasn't really supposed to have one, but he only kept it inside camp, where it was safe to use. He dialed the number of the phone he had given Leo.

"Hello?" Leo spoke from the other end.

"Yeah, Leo, listen. If we were to fly the _Argo_ to Washington and sail it the rest of the way until we reached the Azores Islands, could it take off again?" Jason asked, straight to the point.

"Hmm… I'm pretty sure it could. But it'll take some warming up… I'll get started right now." Leo assured Jason.

"Yeah, thanks man." Jason said, before shutting the phone.  
>Percy looked up expectantly.<p>

"The odds are in our favor." Jason stated.

"Well that never happens…" Percy muttered. Jason actually had to hold back the urge to laugh. The guy _was_ pretty funny.

"Okay," Percy sighed, "So from there we take off. We land in France, Bordeaux… That should take around three, four hours… We can find a place to stay there. And from then onwards we find our way to Rome, which should be easy. We can figure out how to avoid the monsters on our way." Percy concluded.

Jason realized that the guy was pretty smart. It wasn't a bad plan, and it all fit in perfectly.

"Alright… so in about an hour we should all be at The Crossroads where the Ship is." And with that, Percy got up and left.

And just like that Jason's insides snapped as he let free the emotions of fear and anger he had been hiding from Percy.

_AN: So this chppie was more informative than the rest. I ACTUALLY searched all the flight durations from all these countries and got the plan down. The next chappie will be much more action packed._


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: I know I said that my chappies would be longer but you guys have waited SO long! I just wanted to post! I feel so bad!_

**Percy Jackson**

Percy walked out of Jason's room. He wondered if Jason was grateful to him for not taking it.

He doubted it. It was evident that Jason had the same problem with Percy that Percy had with Jason.

They'd stolen each other's families.

Though, you'd think that having a family would count for something. Jason had Camp Half-blood now and Percy had Camp Jupiter.

Percy was very grateful for the Romans that had taken him in and Jason was no doubt grateful for The Greeks, but that didn't change the fact that Percy belonged where Jason was and vice versa.

The two were arguing – if not verbally then through some sort of emotional radiation – pointlessly.

The bad blood building up between them was without reason because – despite what he insisted in believing– the Greeks still loved Percy just as much, and if not then more. He knew that deep down, and he definitely returned the feeling. But what was bothering him was that there was someone else getting that much affection from them too now.

The real problem was jealousy.

…

It was around nine thirty at night when Percy started to get ready. Reyna had requested him to wear the Purple Praetor's toga on top of his usual Camp Jupiter uniform. It was ridiculous but he had no choice. He wrapped the purple cloth in a roman-like fashion.

He avoided any mirrors in the barrack and made his way out, feeling ridiculous.

Percy Walked out of the fifth Cohort Barracks, past the stables, out the Praetorian Gates and Straight onto the _Via Praetoria_ where the _Argo_ stood.

He was early, and so far the only demi-gods at the crossroads were Thalia and Clarisse.

Percy walked up to Thalia who was standing very far away from Clarisse, probably on purpose.

"Thalia!" Percy exclaimed. He hadn't met her properly since they'd arrived.

Thalia flashed one of her rare bright smiles and held out her arms for a hug, which Percy gladly took in.

He was glad to be one of the few guys – heck probably the only guy Thalia would welcome so warmly. It showed the purity of their relationship, that even as a Hunter of Artemis, they could still be so close. He'd always thought of Thalia as a very, very annoying older sister and he knew Thalia thought of him as a very, very annoying younger brother.

"Percy! You don't know how grateful we all are that you're… well. Alive!" She laughed.

They broke apart as he said, "I can believe certain people would be… others not so much…" He joked, nudging Thalia in the arm. She rolled his eyes at him.

"I feel for people _too_ you know!" She complained.

"Yeah, sure you do Thals…" Percy joked, "And I'm impressed that you haven't commented on my high fashion bed sheets." He indicated his toga.

They both burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I figured I'd cut you some slack today, since we're about to go on a quest that could end in the destruction of the world and our deaths. Plus the bad guy here is the mother of the dude you killed about a year ago and she'll probably kill you or squish you to a pulp. I didn't want to sound demeaning by saying you look hilarious." She said all that in a mouthful, very casually. Percy looked at her like she was crazy.

"Didn't wanna sound demeaning, huh?" He asked… rolling his eyes. She laughed.

"I'm just teasing…" She assured him, punching him in the arm.

Next thing Percy knew Annabeth was walking up to them.

As soon as she caught sight of Percy she went into a fit of giggles.

"You – look – ridiculous!" She said through her laughter. At least she was okay and back to normal.

"I missed you for six months too!" Percy said in a dramatically sweet and evidently sarcastic tone.

Annabeth laughed even harder as she walked up to him and planted a sugary kiss on his cheek.

Thalia was just smiling at them, watching. Then she looked at Annabeth as if she were looking for an answer to a question Percy hadn't heard her ask.

Great, they were doing that weird thing girls usually did – understanding each other without actually talking. Percy wondered on a bazaar note if Chiron was secretly a girl.

Annabeth nodded her head.

"I'm right here you guys…" Percy reminded them. They both looked up at him abruptly, which made him feel tall. He liked feeling tall; even though he knew it wasn't going to change the fact that these girls had power over him.

"Okay… Well, Jason was going to announce this tonight in front of the Romans but… I felt you should hear it from me first." Thalia said.

"What is it Thals?" Percy asked curiously. Annabeth was rocking back and forth on her feet. It was distracting, since it reminded him of a nervous little girl – therefore making her look cuter than ever.

"Well… Oh, I'll just get straight to it! Jason Grace is my little brother. As in, we have the same mother." Thalia stated.

Percy just stared at her. And stared… and stared.

So, he wasn't Thalia's only little brother, huh? Thalia was probably the only girl in the world who was as good as a sister to him and now, Jason had taken that away from him too. But he couldn't reveal his jealousy. No one would understand any reason for him to be angry at the fact that Jason Grace was Thalia Grace's brother.

He couldn't believe he hadn't realized that they had the same last names before… they were both children of Zeus, he knew that. But he had_ not_ expected this.

He regained his cool composure and said, "Oh… ha-ha, didn't see _that_ one coming."

Thalia let out a relieved sigh and smiled, "I'm glad your guys aren't mad that I never told you, but… I just couldn't…"

She hadn't noticed any change in Percy at her revelation, but Annabeth – as usual – had.

She was studying Percy with a bemused expression, like he was a really hard algebra question. It made him feel uncomfortable.

Not that he'd ever mind the fact that his girlfriend was staring at him, but it was the _way_ she was staring at him which was unsettling.

Slowly, the others started to arrive. Leo emerged from somewhere behind the ship with Jason. The two had probably been working on it. Percy recalled the cell-phone conversation Jason had had with Leo.

Piper came walking up with Hazel and Frank right behind her. Annabeth's brother, Malcolm, Came not a moment later.

Butch arrived shortly after with Michael Yew, which was an odd combination since Butch was tall and buff and Michael was short and scrawny.

Gwen arrived with Octavian – obviously annoyed by each other's presence.

The only two left soon enough were Reyna and Rachel.

Percy would have been curious, except he couldn't shake off the feeling that someone besides them was missing.

Then suddenly it hit him.

"Where's Grover?" Percy asked Annabeth, turning to her so abruptly that she jumped.

Goodness, how could he have forgotten _Grover_?

But slowly, Annabeth's expression went from startled to anxious and hesitant. A look Percy knew very well. This was a question to which the answer could only be one thing; Bad news.

"Percy… um, there may be something I forgot to tell you…" Her voice trailed off and Percy could tell by the way she said it that it hadn't been 'forgot to tell' so much as it was 'tried to hide from'.

"Babe, what is it?" Percy asked, though he was honestly scared of the answer, "Is Grover alright?"

Annabeth took a deep breath and said, "Percy… On our way here we… we were ambushed. Believe it or not but we were ambushed by monsters _and_ demigods and…"

"And what…?" Percy asked.

"And… Grover was kidnapped."

_AN: Comment/Review! Otherwise nothing will motivate me to write more! :P_


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Okay, so I got a rude comment about one small flaw I did notice. Yes, I know Michael Yew is dead. Didn't I already clear up that that was a mistake? If I didn't then okay:  
>It was a mistake, but there's no point in re-writing the whole thing so let's just say he not dead in this. It'll be AU anyway when MoA comes out.<br>Terribly sorry for the mistake, but I'll just ignore that rude remark I got.  
>And this chappie, you Jayna (Jason and Reyna) fans are going to love!<em>

** Jason Grace **

Jason walked out onto the _Via Praetoria_ with Leo, and the first thing he noticed was that Reyna wasn't there.  
>Then he noticed Piper watching him, and suddenly felt bad. As if <em>she <em>should have been the first thing he noticed.  
>He mentally slapped himself for feeling bad. It wasn't as if Piper was his girlfriend. And neither was Reyna. He was free to worry about whomever he pleased. They were both nothing more than friends.<br>But how true was that really?  
>Leo seemed to notice his dilemma.<br>"Are you okay, man? You're face looks all screwed up…" Leo looked sideways at him, a hint of concern behind his wild eyes.  
>Jason closed his eyes and relaxed his features.<br>"Better?" He asked Leo.  
>"Much." Leo replied, before heading off toward Piper.<br>Jason didn't follow.  
>He would have gone to Thalia but she was goofing off with Annabeth and Percy – like best friends. And that made Jason feel a little upset. Thalia never talked that way with any guy… except Jason.<br>But of course, there was always Percy Jackson. Always.  
>Instead he went up to Gwen, who was standing alone.<br>"Hey Gwen, What's up?" Jason said as he stood next to her and leaned against the wall of the ship.  
>Gwen turned to look at him, and Jason felt warm all over at the look in her eyes. <em>Finally<em> he could be sure that _someone_ was happy to see him. And _only_ him.  
>"Nothing really, just-"<br>"WHAT?" Percy Jackson's voice rang through the _Via Praetoria_ like a gong.  
>Jason didn't have to look tell, but when he did, <em>boy<em> was Percy angry.  
>Jason started make his way over to see what the fuss was about. Every head had turned to look at them. But when he was halfway toward them, he stopped in his tracks.<br>"What do you mean Grover's kidnapped?" Percy yelled, looking from Thalia to Annabeth in utter shock and bewilderment.  
>And then the unpleasant memory of that night came back to Jason, without his permission…<br>_Jason heard Annabeth scream from his compartment on the _Argo II._ He jumped out of bed. It was coming from outside. He ran out the door and through the narrow corridor of the ship. He could feel the ship rocking from side to side as if something were messing with its balance.  
>He emerged out on the sky deck and could not believe his eyes. About six or seven Cyclopes' were on the deck and Annabeth was fighting them all on her own.<br>These were _much_ smaller than the Elder Cyclopes'. They were about nine to twelve feet tall. One Cyclopes lunged towards Annabeth, she dogged it swiftly. The only problem was that the whole boat went sideways.  
>Annabeth caught my eye and yelled, "We have to get them off or –" she turned and engaged in battle with an advancing Cyclopes. But Jason didn't need to hear anymore. They would have to get them off or the Ship would sink.<br>"Go! Get the others!" Annabeth said before he could unsheathe his sword – one he'd borrowed from the armory. It didn't quite fit in his hands the way his imperial gold weapon had, but it was better than nothing.  
>"No! I'll stay here, you get the others!" Jason ordered.<br>Annabeth nodded and made a beeline for the door to the stairs that led down into the ship and the compartments in which their friends slept.  
>Jason sliced at one of the monsters right at the back of his left calf. The monster howled in pain, and Jason took that moment to stab it in the eye. This Cyclopes now blinded and incapable of doing anything except cry, Jason left for later. He turned now to the advancing Cyclopes behind him. This one was a whole foot taller than the last, making him about ten feet tall.<br>Jason had to jump to reach his heart. But his leap was slightly unbalanced and he missed, hitting the monster's arm instead.  
>The Monster's reaction to this was to jolt his harm upward in pain, smacking Jason like a fly in process. Jason flew across the deck and landed on the other side, right at the feet of the third and last Cyclopes. Annabeth had killed the others.<br>Jason did the thing that came naturally – he stabbed the monster in the toe with his sword. There was a yelp and as Jason scrambled up he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  
>The Cyclopes was hoping up and down, holding his toe saying "Owie! Owie!"<br>But after three hops, the big guy lost his balance and tumbled backwards – just as Jason had suspected.  
>Jason ran forward and slashed his sword across the monster's chest - Once, twice…<br>The monster staggered backward until he hit the bulwark.  
>Jason through all his strength into his next swing and sent the monster tripping off the side off the boat and into the water with a huge <em>splash_!  
>When he turned back to the last two monsters he saw that Annabeth and Thalia had taken care of them.<br>"You okay, little bro?" Thalia asked Jason.  
>"Yeah, I'm fine…" Jason said, between deep breaths. He hadn't even realized he was panting.<br>Leo emerged from the stairs with Grover behind him.  
>"What's all the racket?" Grover asked, scratching his head. He had evidently been sleeping.<br>"Nothing you need to worry about," Jason assured the satyr, "we took care of it-"  
>"I don't think you have," Said a dark, menacing voice from somewhere behind the ship.<br>Jason, Thalia and Annabeth turned in union to look for the source of the voice. But there was no one to be seen.  
>Yet the voice kept talking.<br>"Where you are headed – Camp Jupiter – a boy awaits you're arrival. And like all us humans – he has a weakness. He has someone who he can be baited with. That someone is on this ship. And I don't think we can let them go with you." The voice hissed. Jason would have thought it was the voice of some snakelike monster if he hadn't heard the voice say_ like all us humans_.  
>"What are you talking about?' Jason demanded. He walked forward toward the source of the voice. Annabeth and Thalia did the same, as if they were drawn to it.<br>"You know very well what I'm talking about Jason Grace…" The voice was definitely female. And the voice it's self held some kind of magic in it. You could almost_ hear _the magic mixed in with the sound. "All I needed was a distraction…" The voice giggled and there was a sudden yelp behind them.  
>Jason turned around sharply, only to see Grover being dragged away by humans, no <em>demigods_, towards some sort of a portal of brownish-grey swirls.  
>Annabeth yelled and jumped forward, but they were too far away now. Jason ran after her, sword in hand, hoping to get there in time.<br>He was only a few steps away…  
>One step…<br>But they were gone. And so was the portal to wherever it was they went. And Grover was with them.  
>Annabeth slumped to the floor next to Jason.<br>"Percy," He heard her whisper, "They're going to use Grover to bait Percy…"_  
>… Jason suddenly didn't want to join Percy, Thalia and Annabeth. He couldn't face Percy.<br>How could he face a guy and tell them that he'd failed to protect his best friend.  
>Jason knew it wasn't really his fault – what happened to Grover – but he couldn't help but blame himself either.<br>He hadn't known the Satyr for very long, but for the short time that he _had_ known him, he had seemed pretty cool. And that didn't help matters for Jason at the moment.  
>Jason lingered behind with the rest of the crowd that had closed up as Annabeth explained what had happened to Grover and how.<br>Percy just stared at her in shock, as if he couldn't comprehend a word she said.  
>"So… so Grover… Grover's gone?" Percy's eyes were as dry as a dessert but his face looked as if he could cry any minuet.<br>Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder.  
>"I'm sorry Percy. It was my fault. I should have protected him… I'm so <em>so<em> sorry…" Annabeth sounded close to tears herself, but of course, neither of them cried.  
>Jason couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't let Annabeth blame herself. He took a step forward, ready to face Percy and tell him that it was <em>his<em> fault. He was leading the quest, and _he_ was responsible for everything that went wrong.  
>But before he could say anything Leo walked up with a bag in hand.<br>"Okay! Now that we're all gathered up, there is something Jason and I need to tell you guys!" He addressed the crowd.  
>If it hadn't been for the familiar bag, Jason would have been clueless as to what in the name of Jupiter Leo was talking about.<br>"Right," Jason remembered, walking up to Leo and taking something bronze out of the bag. It was a bronze cell phone. Everyone, intrigued by the phone took a closer look.  
>"Now these," Jason indicated the phone in his hand, "are made completely of bronze and are powered by magic. Thanks a lot to the daughters and sons of Hephaestus and Hecate, this circle of Demigods who will be travelling on the <em>Argo<em> will have a safe way to contact each other. But there are conditions. You can only call from one celestial bronze phone to another celestial bronze phone – and the longer you talk, the more the monsters can sniff out the signal. _No_ calling _anyone_ except one of us, or you might as well be talking on a regular cell phone. Everyone got it?" Jason asked. People muttered their agreements and nodded their heads.  
>Jason glanced at Percy, who had seemed to have heard a single word he's said. But that didn't worry Jason, since he already explained the plan to Annabeth. He was sure she would take care of Percy once the poor guy was out of shock.<br>Leo and Jason handed one phone to each demigod. Soon enough the bag was empty. Leo and Jason already had their cell phones in their pockets; the same ones they had been using to contact each other inside the camp itself.  
>"Okay! No time to waste… take 'em to the ship Leo, I'll be right back…" Jason was still worrying. Where was Reyna?<br>"Okay, man." And with that, Leo started towards the ship, beckoning the campers to follow him, shouting, "All aboard!"  
>Jason had to smile. At least Leo was enjoying something – even if he was only in charge for, like, two seconds.<br>But then Jason's smile faded when he locked eyes with Piper.  
>She was looking at him… coldly. As if she knew he was worrying about Reyna.<br>But, even so, why would Piper be so upset about that? Reyna was his friend, and Piper of all people would understand that Jason cared about his friends.  
>But Jason quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. There was no way Piper could read his mind.<br>Control it? Yeah sure.  
>Read it? Nah.<br>However, something at the back of Jason's mind told him this wasn't the same old Piper he'd fallen for.  
>With that happy thought, Jason jogged up towards Reyna's Praetor house.<p>

At first, Jason didn't think anyone was in the room. It was dark and quite. Emptiness seemed to radiate off of it.  
>Though there was something else there too. Something that kept Jason in the room long enough to notice the purplish-black lump on the bed.<br>As he moved closer, he realized the lump was Reyna.  
>For a horrible moment he almost thought… but no. She was alright. She was… sleeping?<br>Her breathing was steady and her eyes were closed. Yeah. She was sleeping.  
>Why the <em>hell<em> was she sleeping?  
>Jason wondered if this really was Reyna, because he had never <em>figuratively<em> caught Reyna 'sleeping on the job', and he'd never dreamed of it happening _literally_.  
>He reached for the lamp on the side table on the other side of the bed and switched it on.<br>The room filled with a bright, golden light. Some of it even poured through the window above the headboard of the bed and onto the grass.  
>The bright light woke Reyna up instantly, who had always been a light sleeper.<br>Jason felt a pinch of pride about how much he knew about this girl.  
>Jason hesitated a moment before beginning his interrogation.<br>He'd only once seen Reyna caught off guard. It was a long story that had to do with roses and wood nymphs.  
>But seeing her like this, after so many months of not seeing her at all, was amazing.<br>Why so? Jason had noticed that when Reyna wasn't trying to look strong and controlling, she looked soft and at peace.  
>Her face wasn't hard looking, her lips weren't set in a line, her hair wasn't constantly being pushed back and, most of all, her eyes… they looked more like black syrup – soft and sweet – rather than endless, lethal black voids.<br>She looked… pretty…  
>"Jason?" Reyna repeated, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes. He hadn't noticed that she'd been calling his name.<br>She was sitting up straight now, back to the normal, impassive Reyna. Except, her eyes betrayed one emotion; confusion.  
>"Jason, what the hell happened?" It took Jason a moment to register that she was asking why she had been sleeping. So she didn't know?<br>"I could ask you the same thing… did you pass out?" Fear flooded through Jason, "Are you okay?" He said, more seriously. He started pulling down the skin under her eyes to see whether her iron level was low or not.  
>He'd learned from a child of Apollo that if the flesh on the inside of your eyelids was too pink, you had low iron level.<br>But Reyna seemed fine. So then what was wrong?  
>Reyna shoved his hand away from her face, not unkindly.<br>"I'm fine Jason," she assured him, "I just can't remember exactly what happened… I think… no."  
>"What?" Jason asked urgently.<br>"Nothing, nothing. It's okay. I'm okay, just tiered." She said all this very robotically, Jason noted, as if she'd been told to say this. But despite her claims of being okay, when she tried to stand up she stumbled and almost fell.  
>But Jason caught her. She fell straight into his arms.<br>She balanced herself, using his shoulder and chest as support, and then looked up at him.  
>She realized what had happened and, believe it or not, blushed.<br>It was a slight pink but Jason was ready to faint right there. Reyna never _ever_ blushed. And she looked great when she did - Or maybe just so unlike the usual Reyna that it made her seem attractive.  
>Or <em>maybe I'm so crazy about her I think everything she does is attractive!<em>  
><em>Wait, whoa.<em> Jason thought, _where'd that thought come from?_  
>"Look," Reyna said, "I'm sure it was nothing. I told you, I've just been tired." Her tone was the same; lifeless and rehearsed. However, something in her eyes was begging Jason not to ask any more questions. And so he didn't.<br>"Okay, let's get back to the ship. Don't want to keep anyone waiting." _or arise certain gossip._ But that went with everything between these two without saying. People at Camp Jupiter would stop at nothing to get something romantic going between Jason and Reyna.

_AN: I KNOW. I said I'd write longer ones, but I just feel so bad for not updating, I write fast and short just to give you something to read! Okay, so I hope there was enough action in there because God knows I haven't been giving enough of that.  
>But the action packed stuff is just coming! Just you wait!<br>Anyway comment/review! Not that you've ever disappointed me :D_


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